Are you confused about healthy nutrition, the role of insulin, this concept of ‘insulin resistance’? Can one largely ignore a macronutrient (i.e. carbohydrates) and not drop dead within a few days?

Karim Khan, the Editor in Chief of the BJSM vouches for this podcast personally and describes Dr Hallberg as one of the people that has most influenced his understanding of a key medical concept.

In addition to Dr Hallberg’s popular (nearing 2 million views!) TEDx talk https://youtu.be/da1vvigy5tQ

Here are her further credentials. https://www.virtahealth.com/about/hallberg

When Dr Hallberg refers to blood glucose being ‘100’ she is referring to the US convention – using mg/dL which is 5.6 mmol/L in many countries (Europe, UK, Australia, Canada etc.)

Highlights include:

Dr Hallberg has great training for exercise prescription from her undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Kinesiology. She’s a medical doctor who runs a clinic for obese patients – that’s a better place to speak from than a lot of theorists in the field.

Dr. Sarah Hallberg is the Medical Director at Virta Health, a specialty medical clinic that reverses type 2 diabetes safely and sustainably, without the risks, costs, or side effects of medications or surgery.

As a physician and exercise physiologist with a passion for helping people be healthy through diet and exercise, she is responsible for providing medical supervision to Virta’s expert team of physicians and oversees the clinical strategy for Virta Clinic participants.

Dr. Hallberg is also the executive director of The Nutrition Coalition, a nonprofit organization that aims to educate the public and policymakers about the need to strengthen national nutrition policy so that it is founded upon a comprehensive body of science.

Link to Dr Hallberg’s paper:

Recent trial she refers to: http://diabetes.jmir.org/2017/1/e5/ A Novel Intervention Including Individualized Nutritional Recommendations Reduces Hemoglobin A1c Level, Medication Use, and Weight in Type 2 Diabetes

Link to other podcasts on BJSM relating to this topic:

Professor Timothy Noakes: “High-fat for health” (11k listens) https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/high-fat-for-health

Professor Stephen Phinney “Science behind lo-carb for performance” (9K listens) https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/prof-stephen-phinney-on-the-science-behind-low-carb-diets-for-athletes-a-rational-approach

Professor Jason Fung: “Diet and obesity and diabetes” (6K listens) https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/dr-jason-fung-on-the-impact-of-diet-on-obesity-and-type-2-diabetes-mellitus